[center] [h1][b] Round 17 of Formula AG Sunday 5th November, 2094 Race Day Bonneville Salt Flats AG Race Circuit, Utah, FAS Federated American States AGP 1730 Mountain Time [/b] [/h1] [/center] [color=gold][center][h2][i][b]Floating on Salt[/b][/i][/h2][/center][/color] Paul had gone through the new prerace routine with Konrad the team’s paramedic. Konrad put Paul through some intravenous electrolytes before the race began. He had been through the hyper baric chamber session to increase oxygen levels in his blood stream before the race. Paul had completed his new meditation session to help him get in the right head space for the race. Paul could tell as soon as he plugged his neural link that the race would be different. His connection to the ship was the smooth merge he had come to expect. The slight timing disconnect and distracted state he had felt during qualifying was missing. He could only assume it was because he took care of the media issue over Bellatrix right away instead of letting it fester and build up. Either way when the race started Paul was in the zone. The first few laps were always chaotic as racers fought for position right out of the start. Paul settled in and stayed alert as he took advantage as the circuit began to take a toll on the ships. He smiled as he passed Harrison whose ship was overheating. Paul continued to stay on Hamid’s tail. He kept his ship drafting and leeching off Hamid’s ship the entire race. He used the leeching and drafting to up his ship’s speed. Bellatrix didn’t make it easy for him as he was constantly defending against her to keep his position. They battled back and forth the entire race. Dorian was forced to drop back, unable to keep pace with Hamid. At one point Paul made it past Cassie and Jenny. Bellatrix followed him through the opening created by their battle as they shot past both ships. They couldn’t catch the leaders but Paul was kept busy with his own battle. He grinned as it reminded him of his epic duel with Bea at Spa. He could feel his father’s presence around him as he became even closer to the ship. His moves were practiced and professional with cold precision but graceful with instincts that couldn’t be bought or manufactured. Paul’s duel with Bellatrix highlighted the human factor in racing that artificial intelligence simply couldn’t reproduce. Paul let out a joyful battle cry as he crossed the finish line a hair breadth faster than Bellatrix. He would have to make sure she got a nice Team Valkyrie hat to wear. Paul pulled his ship back into the paddock. He thanked his team as he they were all cheering as he climbed out. He went over to Dorian and gave him a hug and slapped him on the back. [color=fff200]“Thanks man. I wouldn’t have been able to do it if you were not holding up the midfield. I appreciate your help.” [/color] [color=gold][center][h2][i][b]Delta Hyper- Post Race Interviews[/b][/i][/h2][/center][/color] Paul had arrived at the Delta Hyper set. He had a Team Valkyrie hat in gold for Beatrix. He had signed it for her and passed it to her with a smile. Paul was still in his racing suit. His hair was damp with sweat and messy. He was sipping an open orange Zap Energy drink. He accepted the hat with the tiara on it with a laugh. [color=fff200]“Well I will wear it proudly if you beat me next time.”[/color] He gave Bellatrix a friendly smile. [color=fff200]“It was a great race. I really enjoyed it.”[/color] One of the Delta Hyper assistants was waving to Paul and indicating it was turn to be interviewed. He smiled at Bellatrix. [color=fff200]“Duty calls.” [/color] Paul made his way to the Delta Hyper interview couch. He took a seat and sat the hat Bellatrix had given him to the side on an end table along with his drink. [quote][color=ed1c24]Aurora: "Paul, what a race that was! It's fair to say that few had any hopes you would get into the points- but to come 7th at a circuit like this, tell us, how does it feel? It feels like whatever your strategy was, you made it work!"[/color][/quote] He still managed to look handsome and charming. His smile was warm and easy as he listened to Aurora’s question. Paul’s response echoed with his excitement as his body almost vibrated with energy. [color=fff200]Paul: “That was an epic race. It reminded me of my battle with Bea at Spa. Bellatrix Olympus and I had a side bet going on that made the race even more exciting. If I lost, I would have to wear a Nordic Call hat, if she lost, she had to wear a Team Valkyrie hat. She gave me a tough race which was thrilling and exciting. She certainly made me earn that seventh place finish. As you know Team Valkyrie was expecting to struggle here at the Festival of Speed since our ship is not as strong with speed as others such as Al Saqyr. I really struggled in practice and qualifying here in Utah. Today everything just seemed to come together. I still struggled on the straits but ELS helped me stay competitive. Some changes we made to my prerace routine after Spa helped me stay hydrated and focused. I managed to pick up time in the corners and chicanes thanks to our handling and stability. ELS and leeching off competitors helped make up some of the speed difference in the straights. I am pleased with the end results considering how poorly I did in qualifying. I want to give props to my teammate. Part of our strategy was to have Dorian do his best to tie up Hamid. He did an admirable job of holding up the midpack.”[/color] [hr] [hr][h2]Pilots’ Group Chat[/h2] Paul couldn’t help but smile and accept the inevitable teasing as he read what had been posted to the Pilot Group Chat. [color=fff200][b]Bea[/b][/color] [b]@Paul[/b] I had to see this after a fan showed it to me, and now so do you. 😀 [Link to awful harem fic about Paul] [color=fff200][b]Bea[/b][/color] And yes, I checked chapter publication dates, they keep adding new ones, this madness is ongoing. 😂 [color=fff200][b]Paul[/b][/color] I am not surprised. There are tons more fanfictions out there about me. I have made it a policy not to care and chase them down. I don’t really care about them. I only really step in when I feel someone else might be wronged over the press’ shenanigans. If I protest or comment it only makes it worse. I am just grateful that if my mother has seen them, she has never asked me about them. Talk about awkward! 😂 [color=fff200][b]Bellatrix[/b].[/color] OMG. Bets on the next chapters being super kinky. Hey…why am I brat? This chapter is wild… Not even got this race in! I have to follow this madness. @Bea. Its not our fault everyone got stretched and they're jealous how we get extra leg room I'm the ships. :) [color=fff200][b]Paul[/b][/color]@Bellatrix I am not going to ask why you think the next chapter would be super kinky. That is information I don’t need Princess Brat! 😀 [hr] [@mrskimobile] [color=fff200][b]Group Message from:[/b][/color] Kais Fenix [color=fff200][b]Group Message to:[/b][/color] Paul Mulder (Valkyrie), Beatrix Ward (Carrera) [center][b]Group Message to: Paul Mulder (Valkyrie), Beatrix Ward (Carrera)[/b][/center] [indent][indent][b]Kais[/b]: [i]This isn't a social call. I need to know if either of you have experienced anything strange with your ships. Glitches. Memory bleeds. Unexplained system behavior. Data leaks.[/i] [b]Kais[/b]: [i]I'm asking because I think someone is using our augmentations against us. Feeding us information designed to turn us against each other.[/i] [b]Kais[/b]: [i]Amy knows something. About all of us. And I don't think she's the only one.[/i] [b]Kais[/b]: [i]If we're going to figure out what's happening, we need to stop being isolated targets.[/i] [b]Kais[/b]: [i]I think we're all in more danger than we realize. And I'd rather face it together.[/i] [b]Kais[/b]: [i]Let me know if you're willing to talk. I'll make sure it's somewhere secure.[/i][/indent][/indent] [color=fff200]Paul:[/color] I am not sure what kind of help I can be. I am willing to meet with you. Name the time and place. [color=fff200]Paul:[/color] Hey Kais, I have not heard from you since Australia. What’s going on? Did you still want to meet? Let’s connect at the Festival of Speed after the race. [hr] Paul stared at the text message that had received no replies Paul noticed there was not a reply from Bea to that group conversation either. Paul had time to do his mandatory Delta Hyper interview. He had showered and was in comfortable clothes once more. He knew the teams were all busy packing up equipment. He wanted to try and catch Kais in person. He couldn’t help an uncomfortable feeling that something was wrong. He had expected Kais to dominate in this race. He did well coming in fourth but Paul had expected him to make a podium at this race. He had believed it would be Bea and Kais battling it out for first. With his decision made, Paul grabbed his personal security guards and took off towards the Al Saqyr paddock. He was stopped by security guards stationed at the entrance. Al Saqyr security guard: [color=f26522]“Halt. Where do you think you are going?” [/color] Paul understood the security guard was only doing his job. He sighed and tried not to take his frustration out on the guard. He gave the guard one of his best smiles. I am a good guy look. [color=fff200]“I wanted to have a quick word with Kais Zenix. I wanted to congratulate him on his performance. Would it be possible for you to fetch him for me? I am happy to wait.” [/color] Al Saqyr security guard looked annoyed but he turned and walked a few feet away with his back to them as he spoke softly into his comm unit. He came back a few moments later and gave Paul a hard direct stare. [color=f26522]“No. Kais is not receiving visitors and you are not allowed into the paddock since you are a member of a rival team. Now please move along.” [/color] Paul let his frustration show. [color=fff200]“Look, Kais and I are on friendly terms. If you would just…”[/color] The security guard interrupted Paul, stepped forward with his hand resting on a stun baton. [color=f26522]“I said leave. Or I will force you too.” [/color] Paul’s security had caught the threatening movement and stepped forward and physically pulled him back away from the guard, inserting themselves between the guard and Paul. His security guard told Paul. [color=fff79a]“Sir, we need to leave the area.They are within their rights and just doing their job.”[/color] Paul growled in frustration but turned and headed back to Team Valkyrie territory. [hr] Alexander was back in his office on Monday and was reviewing reports at his desk. He was pleased at how things went in Bonneville. George Haffner from Transolar Industries was pleased with what he saw. The two teams of lawyers were hammering out the details but it was looking like Transolar Industries would be the team’s next large sponsor. Alexander had been grateful that Lena had been with him at the event. She and George’s wife had hit it off. They had talked about fashion and their experiences with busy men while George and Alexander discussed racing and sponsorships. George had appreciated the knowledge and expertise displayed by all the team members. He liked Paul’s charisma and good manners. He was respectful and seemed genuine. George had met a lot of celebrities and wealthy people in his line of work and he was always irritated by those who let fame go to their head. He had expected the pilots to act somewhat like primadonnas or that the world revolved around them. He got to meet Dorian even though he was retiring at the end of the year. Dorian was gracious and gentlemanly and answered all of George’s questions with honesty and good humor. Alexander was glad to see the team do better than they had hoped with both pilots bringing in some points. The team was definitely a contender for top three in the constructors and Paul had managed to move into contention for third in the pilot’s championship. Both of those made the team’s efforts so far look good for next season. Katherine’s team was working with the legal team and Sami Lipponnen to develop a set of smaller regional sponsorship packages to solidify and streamline the work they had started to offer support to smaller businesses who were looking to sponsor the team. They were also looking to find more dedicated sponsors for the Team Valkyrie Junior Academy. Sami was looking at ways to provide training for those wanting to move from Karting to Antigravity ships as paid training opportunities with the team sponsoring the most promising applicants but allowing a select number of others to attend the academy if they paid for the course. They would be rolling out the advertising for the updated academy in a month after they solidified logistics for the off season training session. The phone was ringing in his office. Mabel came on the line. [color=f6989d]Mabel: “Alex I have a weird call on the line. They are demanding to be put through to you. They claim that they have information about the team’s history and that our pilots are in danger. They are not making any sense to me. The caller id is flagged as suspicious but it made it through our vetting to get to me. Do you want to take the call?” [/color] Alexander stopped what he was doing. Mabel’s voice told him she was concerned and worried. He didn’t know what was going on but he was not one to back away from a fight or uncomfortable information. If it was some kind of blackmail scheme the caller would be highly disappointed. Alexander didn’t scare easy. He reassured Mabel that he would handle it. [color=00aeef]Alexander: “It is alright Mabel. I will deal with it. Put them through. Notify Wulfric of the breach in our protocols and have him try to trace it. Then report to me.” [/color] [color=f6989d]Mabel: “I got it Alex.” [/color] Alexander pushed the button to connect the call. [color=00aeef]“This is Alexander Knight. To whom am I speaking?” [/color] The unknown caller sounded like a woman using a voice modulator but with technology who knew. It could be a guy named Chuck living in his mother’s basement. [color=f7941d]Unknown Caller: "Alexander. Listen to me. I have info that's going to be uncomfortable. What I'm going to tell you, is going to break the sport itself. But you're the most untouchable Team Principal right now. A former operator. And I trust you'll do the right thing when I tell you. Are you alone?"[/color] Alexander was curious but also frustrated. Why would they waste his time on shit like this before going into all the hype. They were obviously not a professional information broker or operative. They would have asked if they were alone before saying anything at all. That upped his suspicion that this might be some kind of prank or con for information from him. [color=00aeef]“Yes I am alone in my office. Now get to the point. Answer my damn question.”[/color] Alexander’s hands tightened into a fist as the person ignored his questions and continued to ramble. [color=f7941d]Unknown caller: "I've got records of Silver Apex misusing AI of the kind linked to their pilots. But what I can't understand is if it's them, alone. You can find out. I'm giving you copies of everything I found. All of it. Do with it what you will, but if you can't convince Peter to shut down what he's doing, and find out who else is in, when this goes live, anyone in the blast range is going to be caught. Which may include you. Impossible to say, but, if you are what you say you are, you'll know where you stand about all of this. There's a chance it's already bigger than Silver Apex already. Don't call this number back. Think about who you trust, Alex."[/color] The line would go dead. And an encrypted file would hit Alexander's networked PC, sitting there, ready to look at. [color=f7941d][b]Rabbit_Hole.qzip.[/b][/color] Alexander growled into the phone cursing as the line went dead. How the hell did they manage to send him encrypted documents? He had not authorized the connection. Whoever it was obviously was a very skilled hacker to get through all their new cyber security to plant their file. Alexander was cautious by nature and this interaction was raising all kind of red flags for him. The voice was electronically altered but it still held a hint of fear and shakiness that could come from adrenaline or fear. Their skill level to even reach him the way they did spoke of either high level connections or hacker like skills and equipment. Both demanded he take their request and information a little more seriously. Alexander stared at the file name and thought about the conversation and interaction. This was too sophisticated to be some kind of prank. It could still be a sophisticated con to spy on the team and his communication specifically. He put it in a call to their computer cyber team while he waited for Wulfric. He told Mabel to show them in right away and to hold any other calls until he got to the bottom of what was going on. He asked her to cancel any meetings on his schedule for the afternoon. He suspected that he was going to be tied up for the rest of the day. Alexander needed to bleed off some frustration and began to pace while he waited for people to arrive. The team’s cyber specialist arrived first. Alexander explained what happened and the cyber specialist began investigating. While Alexander was waiting for some answers Wulfric appeared in his office. Wulfric gave Alexander a nod of greeting. [color=8dc73f]“Alexander what have you found this time? The call was untraceable. It was bouncing off numerous servers and satellites all around the world. We lost the trail when it disconnected. The level of skill and equipment needed to make that call indicates a hacker or someone with government-like connections and access to communications equipment. What’s going on?” [/color] Alexander explained the odd phone call and the encrypted file left on his PC without authorization that made it through their firewalls and security. The team’s lead computer specialist, Anabella Caldwell chimed in. Her Scottish accent made Alexander pause as he got past her accent to process the information she was giving him. [color=f7976a]Anabella: “The person who did this was a hacker who used our own internal communications network hardware. They exploited a weakness in our routers. The security upgrade repaired weaknesses in our actual computer systems and software but they exploited weakness in our computer infrastructure that predated the upgrade. Those components were cleared of viruses and were recently upgraded so it was thought they would not need to be replaced. I will develop a patch that will take care of the issue. Once they hacked into the routers they easily hacked into your system by reviewing the logs on the router. I recommend you change all your passwords when I am done. I have isolated the file and moved it to an airgapped drive so that we can read it. If it does contain any kind of spyware or malware it will be contained. I am already conducting a deep scan of your personal computer. So far it's clean. They didn’t leave any nasty surprises behind. Nor did they access any information according to your monitoring software.” [/color] Anabella moved to a laptop with a connected portable hard drive attached to it. She scanned the file and decrypted it for Alexander. [color=f7976a]“No surprises with the file. It was encrypted but the file has no spyware or malware detected in it. I have opened the files.” Her eyes widened as she opened the once locked folder and a series of documents popped up. “There are medical documents, brain scans, brain mapping, there is some information and performance reports on artificial intelligence. I don’t understand it all. You will need to take a look at it and decide for yourself what you need to do.” [/color] Alexander nodded as Annabella picked up her laptop. She handed the portable hard drive to Alexander. [color=f7976a]“If you don’t need me for anything else. I want to work on plugging our now identified security issues with our internet phone system.” [/color] Alexander nodded and thanked the woman as she left in a hurry. Alexander invited Wulfric to join him as they reviewed the now open files together. Alexander’s shoulders tensed as he looked over the information provided. Alexander was a very intelligent man and understood the basics of a lot of what he was looking at. That didn’t mean he could interpret the minutiae. Alexander pointed out the medical records, data usage reports, ship data streams that were tied to neural interface activity. Alexander sighed and looked at Wulfric. [color=00aeef]“If I am reading what I have been given correctly, then Silver Apex has done something to their pilot neural interfaces and have been using it to cheat somehow. But why come to me with this information? If I bring these accusations against Silver Apex and they are found to be false, it would not just hurt me could lead to sanctions against the team. Is this an elaborate plot to eliminate us as a threat? How do we verify this information? Where would you start?” [/color] Wulfric looked concerned and thoughtful as he tried to follow all the tech geek documents in the folder. Most of it was Greek to him. He didn’t understand half of it. Wulfric turned to Alexander and sighed. [color=8dc73f]Wulfric: “Well we first need to understand what is in these documents. We need to bring in the team’s neural interface expert or if you feel you can trust them, maybe Yuhara Shinichi. She would be able to tell you what is going on here. She might be able to tell you if the documents have been forged in some manner or at least interpret what they are revealing. I think we also should interview Dorian and Paul. Maybe they have heard concerns or rumors from some of the other pilots. I also think we need to bring in Cavan. Maybe he can look into performance differences this season. Maybe he has noticed something or can run the data against other seasons to see if there are discrepancies that support whatever these documents are supposed to be proof of. Can you share what the caller told you?” [/color] [color=00aeef]Alexander: “They stated that Silver Apex had done something to their pilots’ AIs and that Peter Thatcher knows about it and is behind it. They insinuated that other teams may be involved as well. They asked me to investigate it and report it. But if I am wrong about this it could blow up in my face. If I don’t do anything, unsuspecting pilots might be at risk somehow. That doesn’t even cover the whole cheating to win.” [/color] Wulfric grumbled even as he looked thoughtful. [color=8dc73f]“You know if it is true. You have built a reputation for putting safety of the pilots first no matter who you have to take on to do it. That may be why they came to you.” [/color] Alexander sighed knowing this information was going to eat at him. He was a decisive man but he needed to be cautious with this information. He looked at Wulfric and nodded. [color=00aeef]“Let me call our pilots. I want you present for the interviews. I want them recorded, highest security you and me only. I am not sure how many I can trust with this kind of information. But I can’t figure this out on my own. I need help. I am not comfortable taking this to FIAR until I have at least vetted some of this information.” [/color] Wulfric nodded. [color=8dc73f]“Then let’s get started.” [/color] Emergency meetings were called with Yuhara Shinichi, Dorian, Paul, and Cavan. Dorian was the first one to show up in Alexander’s office. Alexander invited Dorian to take a seat in his sitting area. He let Wulfric set up the recording drone and the necessary security protocols on it. [color=8dc73f]Wulfric: “Dorian for the record we are going to record this interview. You are not to discuss this interview with anyone. I mean anyone. We have had a security breach and we are trying to get to the bottom of the reason behind it. This recording will be for our security investigation and only Alexander and I will have access to it.” [/color] Dorian looked a little surprised but nodded. He understood that it was a necessity to trust but verify in this industry. [color=00aeef]Alexander: “Dorian I called you in because I just received some disturbing information. I need to try and verify some of it. I received some anonymous information that Silver Apex is cheating somehow. Have you heard any rumors or noticed anything that might shed some light on this?” [/color] Dorian laughed and looked surprised at the question. [color=00a651]“There is no doubt that Amy Stirling has had a great run with Silver Apex. Facts are that her copilots have not done as well with the ship until Jenny Lowry. You and I have been around a while. You know there are always rumors but I have not spotted any evidence of cheating. It sounds like sour grapes to me. I can’t deny my own season has been full of more than the usual equipment failures. But I believe you were looking into that.” [/color] Alexander could tell that Dorian had been surprised by the question. He believed Dorian was telling him the truth. [color=00aeef]Alexander: “Thank you for your time Dorian. You can go back to training.” [/color] Alexander waited as Dorian left and Paul came in. Wulfric repeated his speech with Paul. [color=8dc73f]Wulfric: “Paul for the record we are going to record this interview. You are not to discuss this interview with anyone. I mean anyone. We have had a security breach and we are trying to get to the bottom of the reason behind it. This recording will be for our security investigation and only Alexander and I will have access to it.” [/color] Paul looked surprised but nodded. [color=fff200]“Really? I thought we just had a security upgrade? I understand. What did you need to know?” [/color] Alexander turned to Paul. [color=00aeef]“I had someone hack into my computer and leave a message and some encrypted files. I need to see if I can corroborate or verify the information they left. I need to decide how to handle it. They stated that they believed that Silver Apex was cheating and that they had done something to their pilots' neural interfaces and artificial intelligence. Have you heard anything? Have you noticed anything? Have other pilots said anything about it? Have there been any rumors or weird occurrences?” [/color] Paul looked stunned and shocked. Paul had a sinking feeling as he remembered Kais’ text message. Paul found himself nodding absentmindedly as he began making connections to things he had seen and heard. Paul looked scared and mortified as he answered Alexander. [color=fff200]Paul: “Amy Stirling hosted a pilots dinner at the Singapore AGP. At the dinner she asked the other pilots if their neural interface was acting up. She mentioned that she had some trouble a few races prior to that. That was right after my blowup in Hawaii. I was staying quiet trying to avoid attention. I remember Dorian answered for the both of us. She theorized that maybe ELS had triggered the issue. Dorian had mentioned some kind of issue that neural interfaces had the year prior and asked her about it. I also got a text message from Kais at Al Saqyr requesting a meeting. I told him I would be happy to meet but then he never contacted me back.” [/color] Paul pulled up the message thread and showed it to Alexander and Wulfric. In the thread Kais had asked the other pilots to meet, wanting to know if anyone had experienced anything strange with their ships. Glitches. Memory bleeds. Unexplained system behavior. Data leaks. He mentioned in the thread that he thought someone was using their augmentations against the other pilots. He believed that Amy Stirling knew something about what was going on and that there were others affected as well. Alexander and Wulfric reviewed the information. Alexander had a bad feeling about all this. His gut felt like a rock had settled into the middle of it. He felt as if he had a heavy load pressing down on his shoulders. He sighed and gave Paul a stern look. [color=00aeef]“Thank you for sharing that information with me Paul. Next time you hear about something like this, please bring it to me. I need you to keep what you know to yourself for now. I am going to investigate this. I might even be reporting this but I need to verify some of what is going on. I want to make sure the steps I take are appropriate and don’t result in blowback on the team. I promise I will fill you in when I make a decision and learn more. You can go now.” [/color] Paul looked conflicted for a moment but nodded. [color=fff200]“I will do as you ask. I want to know more about this. I expect you to keep your word and tell me what you find out. I have been kind of worried about what Kais said.”[/color] He turned and left. Alexander watched him go and looked over at Wulfric. [color=00aeef]“Well that lends more credibility that there is something going on at Silver Apex and that it does indeed involve neural interfaces. I think you need to talk to Cavan and Yahara next.” [/color] Alexander called Yuhara and insisted she come to Valkyrie Headquarters that he had some very urgent sensitive information to share. Yuhara expressed her displeasure over being summoned with Alexander but would ultimately make it to Valkyrie late that afternoon with the use of one of their corporate shuttles. While he was waiting for Yuhara, Alexander called Cavan into his office. He explained to Cavan that some sensitive information had come to him regarding Silver Apex. He explained that there were allegations of cheating using modified neural interfaces and ship malfunctions of some kind. There was suspicion that pilot augmentations were being used against them. He was hoping Cavan would look over the statistics and equipment failures of the season. Were they more prevalent or odd? Was there something different happening this season that seemed off? Cavan was sworn to secrecy and went off to review the racing incident reports from the season. Cavan sent Alexander a summary of his findings that there were more odd equipment failures and just odd mistakes for pilots this season than normal. The data showed a 10 percent increase in unusual equipment failures and racing incidents such as crashes and collisions. It was not a very large number but ten percent was still pretty significant when discussing pilot safety. Yuhara Shinichi came into Alexander’s office with displeasure and anger written all over her face. Alexander explained what was going on. He then asked her if any of the documentation that had been sent made any sense to her. Once she started reviewing the files, she was instantly absorbed in the data. Her irritation at Alexander disappeared. Yuhara asked Alexander how he came to have this information. He explained and was very honest with her. [color=00aeef]Alexander: “I don’t even know if it is forged material. What are we looking at? I asked you to come because I felt I could trust you. I am trying to decide what to do with this information.” [/color] Yuhara sighed and nodded. [color=f7976a]“I understand now why you asked me to come in person. I can tell you these files look genuine to me. Usually when someone is trying to forge this kind of neural interface testing and data, they are minor artifacts and timing misalignments that flag. This data is missing those tell tale signs. I can’t be positive without conducting an in person assessment with my own diagnostic tools. The data shows that some of the mandatory safety protocols for neural interfaces are missing from the diagnostic data. The missing protocols bypass human choices in the working loop which in extreme cases can allow the artificial intelligence to control the human body which is why these protocols are mandated. The algorithm logic in the neural interface chain has been altered to give the AI control under certain circumstances. The brain scan data shows neural deterioration, bleeds, and brain damage. I can’t tell you positively or with any confidence if the information is from the same person. Is this what you needed to know?”[/color] Alexander listened to Yuhara’s explanation. He closed his eyes and bowed his head. He knew what he had to do but it was going to be ugly. There would be no softening the blow and no matter what he did, it might impact his team. Alexander had a pained look on his face as he met Yuhara’s eyes. His voice was firm and resolved even as pain lanced through his voice. [color=00aeef]“Thank you Yuhara. I am going to ask you not to share or discuss this information with anyone else. After I have set things in motion, I will let you know what the investigation reveals. I need to keep this information tightly contained for now.”[/color] Yuhara bowed to Alexander as she gave her answer. [color=f7976a]“I understand Alexander. Now I am going to head back to the airport. Please call ahead and have one of your shuttles ready to take me back to my office in Tokyo.” [/color] Alexander smiled and gave her a deep bow in return. [color=00aeef]“Thank you Yuhara.” [/color] Alexander waited for Yuhara to leave. He turned to Wulfric. [color=00aeef]“Make two copies of the files into two encrypted drives, One for Johanna Lipusv and one for FIAR. Include the interviews with Dorian, Paul, Cavan, and Yuhara. I want to lock the originals someplace only you know about that is secure. Then I want you to personally take one of our shuttles and deliver that drive into Johanna’s hands and brief her on the situation and the steps taken so far. Inform her that I am giving her a heads up out of courtesy but ethics demand that I report this breach to FIAR. I know it can blow back on the team but I cannot let this continue. It is obviously a risk to the pilots involved even if they consented to it. It breaks serious safety protocols that I cannot in good conscience ignore. I know it means taking on the giant that is Silver Apex and Peter Thatcher. We can share a ride to the airport. I am going to need to fly to England to put this into the hands of Royston Pearce. Hopefully Johanna and Leo will forgive me. We can share a car on the way to the airport. I just need to swing by my apartment and grab a bag. I will meet you out front in 30 minutes.” [/color] Wulfric and Alexander parted ways, Alexander filled Mabel in on what was going on. He asked her to run interference for him. He told her to keep the knowledge to herself but to begin drafting some emergency protocols or dust off the existing ones. The press was going to descend on the team once more and it will be a feeding frenzy like nothing they had seen before. Alexander was on the shuttle and was on his way to England to surprise Royston Pearce, the head of FIAR. He couldn’t help but wonder why now. Things had been going so well. He had managed to stay out of the news. The team was getting good press. The team was performing well. They had a chance to at least be in the top three teams this year. Compared to their slow start, that was amazing. Would this derail all that effort and struggle? He had done his best to confirm the data but without knowing more about where it came from and how it was retrieved, he simply had to go with what he knew and could prove. His gut said there was more to the story than he could see right now. He would simply have to stand firm and let the chips fall where they may. He shot a text off to his daughter and told her to be careful in public. He offered to pay for a short trip. He warned her that he was about to make news headlines once more. He then warned Lena that she might want some distance from him and that he was about to make headlines again. He didn’t give them any idea of just how much he was about to rock the racing world. He didn’t want to leave people he cared about floating in the wind. He considered hiring security for Arianna. He would wait and see how the meeting with Royston Pearce went. [hider= Team Valkyrie Characters] https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1zrLx5XUgYiVm6KjTpFTWZtJvXc0MX77enkLzINHujKw/edit?gid=0#gid=0 [/hider]